SAO TOME, 18 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - The foreign minister of Sao Tome and Principe has resigned after coming under widespread criticism for spending nearly US $500,000 of aid from Morocco without reference to other members of the government.Full report

SAO TOME, 6 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - The foreign minister of Sao Tome and Principe has denied allegations that he misappropriated nearly US $500,000 of Moroccan aid money, but he has raised a political storm by saying it was spent by the president bypassing government controls.Full report

SAO TOME, 15 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - The Attorney General’s Office of Sao Tome and Principe says it has found “serious flaws” in the way that contracts were awarded to oil companies to explore offshore waters shared with Nigeria.Full report

SAO TOME, 13 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - “When the oil money comes we will build a bridge here,” said the head of a local women's association. Everyone in Sao Tome and Principe is convinced that the small island state tucked away in the Gulf of Guinea is on the verge of an oil boom.Full report

SAO TOME, 3 Jun 2005 (IRIN) - The prime minister of Sao Tome and Principe has submitted his resignation in the midst of a strike by civil servants and a row with the president over offshore oil, raising the prospect of early parliamentary elections in this small island state.Full report

SAO TOME, 18 May 2005 (IRIN) - Arlindo Carvalho has resigned as Minister of Natural Resources of the tiny island state of Sao Tome and Principe amid allegations of irregular procedure and high-level corruption in the award of offshore oil exploration rights.Full report

SAO TOME, 16 May 2005 (IRIN) - Staff sergeant “Peter” helped himself to another bottle of beer from the plastic dustbin full of ice beside him and wrenched the cap off with his teeth.Full report

SAO TOME, 10 May 2005 (IRIN) - The HIV prevalence rate in Sao Tome and Principe could treble over the next five years as tourism and the development of offshore oil bring thousands of people flooding into the remote island state in the Gulf of Guinea, a prominent local AIDS campaigner has warned.Full report

BRAZZAVILLE, 7 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Leaders of the 10 countries that make up the Congo Basin on Saturday concluded a treaty aimed at protecting the world's second largest rainforest. Full report

SAO TOME, 2 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - The twin-island state of Sao Tome and Principe has finally signed its first offshore oil exploration and production-sharing agreement, triggering a bonus payment of US$49 million - 10 times as much as the country's annual export earnings from cocoa. Full report

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Waiting for the oil boom

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Mercenaries, corruption and poverty complicate the road to an oil boom

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Oil and tourism threaten to treble rate of HIV infection in five years

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Oil bonanza approaches, but the poor life continues

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: IRIN Focus on reducing economic vulnerability